Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Paiute Murder--the lingering sickness of witchcraft

By Truman L. BuffFort Independence Indian Reservation as told to B.C. DawsonThe
murder of several members of the Paiute Indian tribe allegedly
involved the belief that those murdered were actually involved in
witchcraft. The first was Two-Stick Sally, an old lady who,
according to Dawson, was harmless and not deserving of her untimely
death.

"Somebody
insisted she was a witch and among us Paiutes of that time that was
the same as a sentence of death. When she disappeared, all our family
hunted for her for days but we never found her," said Dawson.

Although
Paiute tribesmen treated the matter in a casual manner, the whites of
that time were the opposite.

The Author, Truman Buff

"The
whites made an awful fuss about it. Mr. English, Indian agent at
Fort Independence, Ray Parrett, Indian superintendent at Bishop,
Sheriff Logan, and District Attorney Hession held a big
investigation. They grabbed a couple dozen of us. Questioned
everybody," says Dawson.

According
to the author, Truman Buff (see Buff's sketch), Dawson refused to
give the names of the individuals that were suspected of killing
several Paiutes during that time period. Dawson said, "I am not
going to use the names of them guys except when they are in the
newspapers and public records as they all got families and relatives
and I don't want too many guys getting mad at me at the same time."

After
several more Paiute tribesmen, all suspected of practicing
witchcraft, were murdered, the authorities caught two of the culprits
involved in the killings as they were part of a gang, all from Black
Rock, Nevada.

Belief
in witchcraft continued for sometime, but over time it began to
subside after the US government began sending young Paiutes to school
in Riverside. To read the entire story, refer to page 17 in the September 1980 issue of Frontier Times magazine, partner in True West, available from Western Magazine Classifieds at http://bit.ly/2Nh2qYF.

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